Ansel Adams was commissioned in 1941 by then Secretary of the Interior Ickes to create murals of areas controlled by the Interior. The photos were shelved shortly after the attacks on Pearl Harbor starting the US involvement in WWII. Seventy years later, 26 of them are finally being displayed in an exhibition (by reservation only) in DC. Since it is rather difficult for the average Joe (too soon?) to access these beautiful murals, these prints are now available for public viewing online at the Department of the Interior Website . These photos are spectacular. Ansel Adams: Awing Eyes Yet Again!

It is the first day back to work in over a week thanks to our friend The Snowmageddon (including Part Two). I like many others have an indescribable excitement to be back. This is probably due to my need for socialization as I have been cooped up in my apartment for the better part of the last 168 hours (save for the minor trips to the park and grocery store for blog writing purposes). As it stands, The Federal Government is operating today but under a delayed arrival. This means that it is completely understandable that my normally 20 min. commute to work today took an hour and fifteen minutes. The office is “same ole same ole” but it was such new appeal to it. I wanted to hug my coworkers like I hadn’t seen them in ages and appreciated (to a certain extent) the normal hustle and bustle of being back to work in NW DC. That being said, it’s Friday and there is a substantial amount of work to do before taking holiday. Partnered with a substantial amount of giddiness, I’m not sure how type-A productive this day will be, but it’s good to be back nonetheless.

Found this vid circulating through the DMV area social media sites – time lapsed photography of the Snowmageddon for your viewing pleasure:

223PM While this blog is about to become history seeing as the #snoverkill snow storm has come with a bang and gone with a whimper (and some wind), I lament but only briefly because I saw this: Say It Ain’t Snow! More East Coast Snow Expected via NPR. The National Weather Service is currently watching some weather set to approach on Monday with potential to bring accumulating snow back to the DMV. Seriously?????????

219PM It’s a beautiful day out. I woke up to sun blazing through my window shades, partially-cleared roads (I could hear snow plows and trucks in reverse gear beep-beep-beep all night) and a fierce ugly wind wafting its way through the street corridors. People are out and about and because tomorrow is most definitely NOT a snow day, we all seem to be having this carpe-diem super-sunday mentality. In other words, LET’S BOOGIE! Current conditions: 39ºF out with a healthy breeze and melting snow.

10 February 2010

654 OPM called it:

603PM The nightly OPM watch has begun.

540PM DC Grocery Store Open, But Nobody Working via WUSA9.com
WASHINGTON (AP) Some northwest Washington residents resorted to the honor system during the snow storm when they found a Safeway grocery store with the doors open — but no employees.

3PM Pic of the Day

140PM Watch the vid. It’s pretty self-explanatory:

Accompanying photos of the neighborhood under wind, snow, snow drifts and more wind:

(L) Car? What car? (R) Burial of the corner stop sign (continued)
(L) Why, who is that, a rogue traveler come from afar? (R) No, it’s just a dude skiing down our street

1205PM SNOWMAGEDDON 2010 aka The storm of the century now has t-shirt paraphernalia:

This tee , brought to you by One Vs Many, a DC based creative agency was posted on Thrillist.com . This souvenir/survivor-man trophy can be yours for $24, a portion of which goes to SOME (So Others Might Eat), a non-profit organization that provides food, clothing and health care services to the impoverished.

820AM When the snow stopped last night, I’m sure everyone questioned the futility of another cabin fever-inducing economic loss of a snow day, but this morning, I awoke to this and HOLY COW IS THIS A STORM!!! In the vid, I’m so stunned that all I can seem to do is look both ways, like I’m about to cross a street…and say WOW a lot.

9 February 2010

1010PM Snow is coming down consistently; sticky and accumulating; there is a layer of fresh white on the roads with temperatures in the upper 20s meaning freezing time!

650PM

631PM 100 million people getting snow: Chicago, Detroit, New York City, Washington D.C., Boston. These are “storms for the record books.”

622PM More than enough snow on the Mid-Atlantic seaboard; not enough snow in Vancouver, BC. WintergamesFAIL

550PM

“ABC7 braved the rugged streets of Clarendon to interview us on cabin fever and subsequently quoted us out of context in this breaking story…”

What the reporter said was if she could interview us on cabin fever. What she didn’t say was that the two of us would be her feature on a piece about depression. Talk about quoted out of context, the reporter associated seasonal affective disorder, depression and cabin fever with my pseudo serious desire to go back to work. I, as a result, look incredibly depressed and impatient when in actuality, we spent most of the time laughing. What they didn’t mention was that all they asked my bf and I were: if we had cabin fever, if we were sick of eachother, if we wanted to go back to work, what the weirdest thing we did over the snow days was (to which I replied this blog) and what items we bought from Walgreens. I said we bought dish-washing soap. I said that I was looking forward to going back to work. But beware, ladies and gentlemen, lethargy and cabin fever after being stuck inside for six days could mean that you too suffer from depression. Depression caused by snowstorm. Nevermind the bestest part where when asked if we were “sick of eachother,” my response was…”HAHAHAHA……..<pause>……… Naaawwwww he’s cool.” Glad we could be a part of your filler material, ABC7, a bit of a downer that your filler material used baseless quotes out of context to make residents look especially peeved and borderline depressed. Maybe it was those bags under my eyes from the no sleep I’ve been getting since I get to stay up all night on snow days? Maybe she said “damn I need someone to interview, that girl looks bombed out and depleted, let’s interview her!” Good investigative journalism. THANKS NATASHA BARRETT, YOU’RE THE BEST!!!

(But in all honesty, if you are feeling the blues, don’t jump to a hasty conclusion: that you’re depressed. Chances are almost all of us are going stir crazy. It’s human. We aren’t meant for this type of hibernation. Jjust remember that you’ve been locked up in your house for the better part of one week. Stuck. In a shoe box! Put some perspective on it and read a book. Don’t trip out, be safe, enjoy and catch up on all the time you spent wishing you had during the every day rigamarole.)

Dopplar images: (L) 515PM (R) 720PM

533PM Fun Facts et al.:

40,000 tons of road salt from Mexico and Chile brought on for the storms. One store sold 1600 shovels in a half day. Many home improvement stores open until 9PM tonight. On the road, snow is falling, slick conditions, Governor has asked folks to stay off of the roads.

520PM Two storms merging? Snow bands and thunderstorms? Really???

420PM The snow has started…

315PM The storm size got bigger just like that! I need to do more research on storms ripping through the Mid-Atlantic. In other news, no snow yet.

230PM I just made an embarassment of myself when interviewed by channel seven news after leaving Walgreens. When asked what we bought, I said “dish-washing soap.” I DID mention in response to the question ‘What have you been doing?’ that I wrote a blog on the storm. We tried to push the URL, but she said it wouldn’t make it in the interview anyway. She asked us twice if we had cabin fever and if we were getting sick of each other and quite frankly, we lied through our teeth when we said we got ALL of the chores done. We only did some of them. I’m preparing for shame on the 5 o’clock news.

Steph’s Log to Snowmageddon 2010

For my mom and because this island girl ‘aint never seen so much snow in her life!

SNOWPACALYPSE PART DEUX

NOAA’s National Weather Service has issued a winterstorm warning for the mid-atlantic seaboard predicting blizzard-like conditions and a storm that may likely bring 20 inches to the DMV area. This storm has also become the center of media focus with many meteorologists calling it much like NPR did: Paralyzing. Sensastionalist, yes. If you’re a wimp like me, you may come across a bit of hate from friends or colleagues boasting origins in the mid-west (Chicago, namely, and maybe Ann Arbor, Michigan) and the thickest skin in America because this storm is nothing short of a drizzle by mid-west standards. Thanks a lot guys, this is nothing and we are wimps, you’re right, but in light of that, a (second) storm like this is a bit out of the ordinary, and in my defense, it’s not so much the elements I’m most afraid of as it is the scrambling of people. It doesn’t help that the media’s fear of this storm is greater than my very own, but alas, like a zombie (yessuh), I made sure to follow what the talking box told me to do and take emergency precaution. Such precautions consisted mostly of making sure I had enough grub to avoid having to move for the next couple of days. (As if I would be moving a whole lot anyway; it’s Friday). Aside from my cat-killing curiosity to go to the grocery store just to observe the spectacle of frenzied idiots with fear in their eyes walk-running and ransacking the produce and grain aisles, I have no other desire to be anywhere near other people be it on the road or in the stores because of the mad rush before the storm. Check this out: Click Click: Welcome to the Grocery Store Thunderdome . So yeah, I’ll count on staying in. And maybe playing video games or watching movies. But then again, how is this different from any other Friday? Oh, that’s right. We have an excuse now: A PARALYZING BLIZZARD RIPPING THROUGH THE REGION! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! Ok, moving on… (Special thanks to Mother Nature for being our collective scapegoat to lethargy).

5 February 2010

1030AM: LOG BEGINS

1031AM: it has officially started snowing. Three firetrucks arrive downstairs. Curious. Should I be worried?

1116AM: forgot about fire trucks. they came and they went. to gold’s gym. Snow is light, not sticky.

622PM Daaaammmnnn, it’s getting nasty out. The winds have picked up and the snow is coming down pretty heavily right now. It’s already after dark and the neighborhood is a ghost town (except, of course, for the bars). Gusts tonight up to 37MPH. Not pretty at all.

827PM There’s a dude downstairs building a snowman; it has accumulated that much!

930PM:

937PM Neighborhoods are fun in the snow!

6 February 2010

8AM:

810AM Stroll to the same park:

(L) That’s snow up to my knees! (R) That’s my usual bench! (Where I sit, drinking a latte and people watch at the neighborhood dog park. I’m more entertained by the people, I tell you)

817AM: Dogs and dogowners are always the first out enjoying the snow:

820AM Then (930PM) and Now (8AM): That poor car parked in the snow

822AM Then and Now: the burial of the corner stop sign:

827AM Lots and lots of snow! Main thoroughfare of my neighborhood:

830AM Because the sidewalks are not plowed, pedestrians walk on the road (also not plowed but not as bad). I almost got hit by a red mini-cooper while crossing the street (I didn’t realize one could drive a mini with snow levels covering nearly half its tires) and also by a snowplow, who was on the sidewalk and began reversing his truck right into me. Charming.

134PM I hear tell folks brought out their equipment and were skiing around DuPont Circle in the snow. In my neighborhood, while it wasn’t as flashy as a, oh, say 1000 person snowball fight, people did take advantage of a faux Winter Wonderland. I saw one person ski by, and while I was out surveying the neighborhood park, this lady came walking by sporting her cool equipment (while pretending to be out in the boonies, she trekked through the snow and emerged near Barnes and Noble):

137PM Dogs and dog owners, like I said, probably had the most fun out there today. This pup is a staple figure in the neighborhood dog community mostly because he reminds me of Beethoven. His owner must have landed lots of ladies thanks to him:

Below, the canine community snowpocalpyse meet-and-greet:

As of 213PM:

237PM Rumors have it and some pics confirm, 1000 people showed up for the DuPont snowball fight.

Video from the DuPont Circle Snowball Fight can be found via the Washington Post at: Ready, aim, fire! Twitter snowball fight quote of the day: “Went to the dc snowball fight in dupont…have a fat lip from getting hit in the face.”
(Photos from @evbr)

326PM A survey of the snow with my familiar landmarks:

Before (8AM) and after (330PM): That poor car parked in the snow

Before & After: Burial of the corner stop sign

330: More photos of the neighborhood under the snowpocalypse!

333PM More photos of the neighborhood under a very thick blanket of snow: